The Project
by MCat711
Summary: A Maximal security officer discovers the secret of Colony Omicron.


He sat alone in the darkness of his cell

He sat alone in the darkness of his cell. A faint, wan light emanated from a tiny crack in the ceiling some distance above his head. He ignored it; light held no appeal for him. After all, nothing good had ever happened to him in its presence.

A tiny rodentlike creature sniffed one wall, whiskers twitching as it felt its way through the darkness. It turned and cautiously approached his foot. He regarded it with disinterest, barely bothering to raise his head from its slumped position. Casually, with barely a thought, he raised his leg and stomped the creature flat before it could even squeak in fright. There was a brief flicker of pleasure deep within him, but it quickly faded.

_Interesting,_ he pondered, then regretted, _Perhaps I shouldn't have done that. I had no other company._ Sighing deeply, he shifted position, causing his heavy chains to rattle and clank with the motion. He moaned to himself as the resettling of his weight made his fading aches and pains flare back to life. Bitterness rose inside him, thick and acid in his throat. _Why are they doing this to me?_ he thought, not for the first time.

His name...the only thing he'd ever been called, at any rate...was Protoform X.

--

"Hey! Careful with that!" the red-and-white Maximal complained.

"Pipe down, Ranger," his female companion complained. "Unless you feel like moving your own furniture." Cobalt let the chair she'd been dragging drop with a heavy thud. "Don't let getting your own office go to your head."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just jealous 'cause mine is in the newest-built sector and yours is two levels down."

A door opened behind the bickering pair, and a third voice...a deep, raspy growl...joined the conversation. "This colony's growing too slagging fast."

"Hi, chief," the female offered, turning to greet him as he began to step inside. Then her yellow optics widened and she warned, "Watch your...!" Then her voice trailed off as a low _thunk _indicated the situation had just become moot. "...head."

Stepping back with his hand to his forehead, the new arrival slitted his red optics at the roof support beam he'd just walked into. He grumbled several unkind words, then griped, "Why the Pit do they build these ceilings so low?!"

"Hey," Ranger protested, "it's not MY fault you're that tall."

"Yeah, whatever. While you two play with the furniture, _I'll_ be checking out yesterday's reports."

"Oh, no," Cobalt protested. "Not the 'weird moans and screams' reports!"

"Exactly."

Ranger shook his head while Cobalt continued, "You don't seriously think there's anything to those? Bet it's just some punks getting over-energized in the Old Sectors."

"She's right," her partner agreed, then hastily added, "though I hate to admit it." She aimed an elbow at his side which he dodged, concluding, "They'll have us chasing Starscream's ghost next!"

"Well, if I catch _him,"_ the third mechanoid replied, completely deadpan, "I'll give him your regards."

"Gee, thanks, chief," Ranger acknowledged dubiously, while Cobalt called out with a look of smug amusement on her face, "Thanks for stopping by, Depth Charge!"

"You're welcome," he grumbled, but there was an edge of dry humor to his voice as he turned to leave. "Now get back to work!"

"Yes, chief!" they saluted in unison.

"And quit calling me 'chief'!"

--

Depth Charge strode through Colony Omicron, nodding to the various Cybertronians he passed along the way. As he made his way underground to what were called the "Old Sectors", the passers-by became fewer, and finally ceased altogether. Finally he stopped in a run-down hallway with an ancient-looking door before him, and shook his head. _Bet it's those stupid kid-bots I caught breaking into the hangar,_ he thought scornfully._ Don't they have anything better to do?_

Depth Charge crouched to examine the scene; not an easy thing, as the dangling glowpanels in the ceiling flickered and sparked erratically. Part of the problem, in his opinion, was the very way the colony was constructed. The original settlement had been dug beneath the surface of an uninhabited and largely barren world. As Maximal technology had improved, the newer portions of the colony had been built around and on top of the old, much as would be done on Cybertron itself.

Unfortunately, this meant that the population continued to move outward and upward, leaving the old layers abandoned and sealed up inside the new. Thus the unused sections sank deeper into decay, and though most denizens felt no desire to enter them, it seemed there were at least a few foolish enough to risk it.

He brushed aside some of the scrap and garbage, then blinked. Some of the thick dust was moving, blown by a slight breeze. _Fresh air? Down here?_ The air appeared to be coming from a narrow space beneath the door. _How could...?_

"Lose something, officer?"

The voice echoed down the hall, and Depth Charge jumped to his feet. Three Cybertronians stood several lengths away from him, their features shrouded in the dim light. However, he recognized the central figure immediately.

"General Treadway," Depth Charge acknowledged, his voice stiff.

The green-and-white military Maximal approached the security officer. Treadway was flanked by a pair of silent soldiers who halted as he stopped, and his face twisted in its trademark smirk. "I'd say you look a bit out of your depth." The object of his remark did not reply, though his optics narrowed with distaste at the pun. Treadway continued, "Trouble?" His tone implied there had better _not_ be any.

"No trouble," Depth Charge replied tersely. "Just checking out a report of strange noises."

Treadway said, with no small amount of condescension, "These old places make a lot of weird sounds. I wouldn't worry."

"I'm not worried." Then he added, "May I ask what brings you here?"

Treadway's smile became somewhat fixed. "No, you may not."

"I'm the chief of security for this colony. I've got a right to know what..."

"You," the other interrupted, his polite expression turning slightly venomous, "have a _right_ to stay out of military business. Have you forgotten that? Do I need to send _another_ message to the High Council?"

"No." No one spoke for a while. The impassive soldiers remained at silent attention as Treadway very obviously waited for Depth Charge to leave, and he very obviously failed to take the hint. Finally DepthCharge broke the silence. "What's behind this door?"

The general only barked out a laugh, then spoke with utter confidence. "You'll find nothing behind that door, I'm sure. But if you want to hang around sub-basements all day, be my guest. _Some_ of us have work to do." He gestured sharply to his companions, who fell into step behind him as they marched out of sight without another word.

The Maximal officer was left alone in the flickering light, pondering his options. The other had been confident enough to make him wonder if he _was_ wasting his time.

Still, he had to know.

He crouched down again, and dug his fingers under the door. It was heavy and resisted his efforts; it seemed to be rusted shut, as though it hadn't been used for a long time. He managed to raise it enough to duck underneath. His visual sensors adjusted to the gloom, and he saw...

...nothing.

Depth Charge stood in the empty, poorly-lit, garbage-strewn corridor, and made a heavy, frustrated exhalation. "Slag." The other Maximal had been telling the truth after all.

He'd almost decided to turn and leave; then he saw a crack running the length of the floor. It looked like part of the corridor had settled; instability was a common feature of the lower levels. On impulse, he followed the crack till it widened, revealing a small gap through which a faint breeze whistled. Here was the mysterious source of the fresh air; but then again, not so fresh. Something was decaying down there. Suspicious, he leaned down to peer inside. At first there seemed to be nothing but darkness, then a small pair of green lights appeared far below...

...and a horrible, animal-like scream split the air.

"Gah!!" The Maximal security officer leaped to his feet and drew his weapon as the roar broke up into a low, dry chuckle that echoed slightly in the gloom.

"My apologies," came a droll voice. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"The Pit you didn't," Depth Charge snapped, irritated by the loss of his composure. "Who the slag are you?"

"I'm called Protoform X," the voice replied, still sounding amused. "And you are?"

"Security Chief Depth Charge."

"What an unusual name!"

"It's a long story." He continued in a skeptical tone, "How can you be a protoform when you're not in a stasis pod?"

He got the impression the other was shrugging. "I can only take what I'm given." The voice urged, "Please, stay a while. I have few opportunities for conversation."

Curious despite himself, Depth Charge leaned closer to the hole and peered inside. However, he still couldn't make out anything more than the pair of green optics, which appeared to be some distance below. "What're you doing down there?"

"Standing against the wall," came the reply, in an 'isn't-that-obvious-stupid' tone.

The other clarified, "I mean, how did you get in there?"

"I walked in. Through the door, over there." His tone implied he was beginning to suspect he was talking to a complete idiot.

Depth Charge sighed heavily, then stood as a sudden realization stole over him. "Wait a cycle, is this one of Ranger's practical jokes?" No response. "Who ARE you?"

"I've told you."

Whatever response Depth Charge might have made was cut off by an insistent voice from his communicator. "Hey, chief, this is Cobalt! You've got an urgent message from the High Council!"

"What do they want?" he snapped, his tone more harsh then he'd intended.

"I don't know, but they sound pretty ticked! You better get up here."

"Acknowledged," he grudgingly replied. "On my way." Then he looked down into the darkness beneath his feet. The mystery of this subterranean being would have to wait for another time.

"Well, nice meeting you, ah, 'X'," he called down. "But I've gotta get back to work."

"Ah, well. Do come around again some time. I'll be here."

"Standing against the wall," Depth Charge observed sarcastically.

"Or sitting. It depends on how I feel."

"Right." The Maximal security officer tossed off a mock salute, then headed back the way he came. "Be seeing you."

He failed to hear the quiet response that trailed after him. "Yes...perhaps you will."

--

Depth Charge's conversation with the representative of the Maximal Elders had been typically brief and unpleasant. Yes, he was aware of his responsibilities. Yes, he understood that the general's authority was not to be challenged. No, he was not trying to be difficult...the exchange went on like this for some time before the representative decided the other had been sufficiently chastised, and cut the connection. Depth Charge checked a juvenile urge to direct an obscene gesture at the screen as it went dead, and strode from the communications center in an ill humor.

He couldn't decide if the so-called "Protoform X" was connected with Treadway, or if he was just being paranoid. On the one hand, it was more than odd that the general and his aides _happened_ to be in the hallway that _happened _to be the source of the "strange noises". However, it had been made crystal clear that the military presence on Omicron was not to be interfered with in any way. And the fact that Treadway was an arrogant son-of-a-scraplet didn't automatically mean he was up to no good.

During the rest of the day, he paid careful attention to everyone he spoke with, trying to determine if they were the source of the mysterious voice. However, no one owned up to the fact, and he didn't catch anyone giggling behind his back or otherwise acting like a furtive practical joker. Finally Depth Charge decided that the whole matter was out of his hands anyway and tried to dismiss it from his mind.

As his long day ended, he headed for his quarters for some much-deserved fuel and the few hours of shutdown he allowed himself. The mystery would keep till morning.

In the deepest hours of the night, Colony Omicron slept protected by automatic defenses and a few Maximals unlucky enough to work the late shift. Most citizens thought these even these meager protections were excessive; after all, there had been no trouble with the Predacons for generations. And of course, the thought of any serious threat from _within_ the colony was absurd. So the population slumbered, unaware that three of their number were still hard at work...and unaware of the being that was the unwilling focus of their attention.

--

"Raise levels to ten percent."

"Ten percent, acknowledged."

The female scientist Dawnlight manipulated the controls of the console before her, her reddish-pink colors glowing in the flickering light. She studied the readings carefully as her male companion spoke again. "All systems normal. Raise levels to twelve percent."

"Twelve percent, acknowledged."

General Treadway shifted in his seat impatiently. He drummed his fingers against his wrist-gun barrel, but his gaze never left the stoic figure chained to the wall before him. "I thought you two had something to show me," he muttered. "I'm not impressed so far."

"If the general will please be patient," the male technician snapped before controlling his temper. "Dawnlight, fifteen percent."

"Fifteen percent, acknowledged, Syker." As she complied, the faint background hum that filled the lab grew slightly louder, and Protoform X grunted slightly. He tugged idly at his shackles, but made no other response.

Treadway made an exasperated sound and rose in irritation. "You've been working on this project for _how_ long?" he snapped. "You were supposed to make a super-soldier! All I see is this dumb-ugly freak job!"

"General!" Dawnlight broke in before her hot-tempered partner could say something that would earn them both a dismissal. "The subject has shown astonishing self-healing abilities. Both its physical and mental capacity are substantially above average. And as you can see, it has a remarkable tolerance for negative neurocircuitry stimulation. Surely these are desirable qualities for a soldier!"

"'Negative neurocircuitry stimulation'?" he mocked. "Why don't you just say 'pain' and be done with it? What's the matter, don't have the _structure_ for this kind of work?"

This was too much for Syker, and he charged the military robot with an incoherent noise of rage. Treadway easily dodged the scientist's clumsy attack, and sent him sprawling with a sharp blow to the lower back. Dawnlight gasped in dismay, while Protoform X watched silently, intrigued.

The Maximal general sneered as Syker tried to rise, assisted by Dawnlight as she rushed to his side. "Scientists," Treadway spat. "Weaklings, all of you. I say we give this thing a REAL workout!" He strode over to the console where the female had been stationed. "It's time we put our boy through his paces!"

"No!" Dawnlight yelled, racing back across the room, reaching out to stop him as he yanked the lever to its highest point...

Protoform X gave an agonized shriek as unbearable waves of pain wracked his body. The console, unable to take the sudden power surge, detonated without warning. Both Syker and Treadway were knocked backwards by the explosion; but Dawnlight, the most lightly armored, took the worst of it. She screamed as her arms were engulfed in flame, then dropped to the floor and rolled over and over.

Syker dropped to her side and tried to help her, as the stunned and shaken Treadway took a step back, then turned away. In the chaos, no one noticed that the test subject's anguished cries had ceased. In fact, he was staring at the scene with what could only be called fascination.

As the pain of the others had grown, his own had lessened.

_Astonishing,_ he thought with clinical detachment. _It's true, then. _As Syker helped Dawnlight from the room, Treadway seized X's chains and hauled him, unresisting, back to his cell. _I must pursue this further._ He barely noticed as he was roughly bound to the wall and shut away in darkness once more.

He had much to consider.

--

Depth Charge was still trying to forget yesterday's strange experience as he sat in the main security office going over the previous day's reports. They contained nothing unusual--they seldom did--so he left his office to begin his morning rounds. Although he had subordinates who could have performed this duty, it was a point of pride for him to personally see to his colony's safety. As he turned the corner, he nearly ran into a female Maximal coming the other way.

"Sorry," he offered, looking down at her. One of the disadvantages of his unusual size was a tendency not to see smaller Cybertronians when he was right on top of them. "Are you all r..."

His voice trailed off as he got a good look at her. She was daubed and spotted with sealant of the kind used to treat burns, and several metal-mesh bandages wrapped their way up her arms. "What happened to you?"

Dawnlight looked down and away as though she couldn't stand to meet his gaze. "Nothing," she murmured. "There was an...accident in my lab."

His large red optics narrowed. "An accident? Why wasn't I informed?" She continued to look away miserably, her gaze unfocused. "What kind of accident? Was anyone else damaged?"

"No. I..." she shook her head. "It's all right, sir. Really. I...have to go now."

"Wait!" he called, but she was already sprinting past him. Depth Charge considered chasing her down. However, he decided against it and returned to his office, deep in thought.

Sitting heavily down at his desk, he sent a message to his second-in-command asking her to take over his rounds for that morning; with some surprise, she agreed. Depth Charge sorted through the security camera footage from the previous night until he found what he was looking for.

The hologram of the interior of Dawnlight's lab showed it to be empty. Fast-forwarding to the end, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever had damaged the scientist hadn't taken place there...in fact, she didn't seem to have been in the lab at all. _Why did she lie to me? Or did somebody falsify these records?_ It did seem unusual that no one'd been in the room for an entire day.

Perhaps it was nothing. He had no evidence of any wrongdoing, after all; but a false accident report wasn't something to ignore, either. A visit to the base's medics might clear things up, he decided as he got to his feet. _Of course, _he thought wryly, _this means I'll have to listen to more of their gripes about not having a decent CR chamber..._

--

Dawnlight stood around the corner from the security office, out of Depth Charge's sight as he headed in the other direction. Her expression drawn, she glanced at Syker. "Do you think he knows? The general said he found him in the corridor above..."

"He can't know," the silver Maximal replied flatly, but then his face twisted in a grin and his blue optics narrowed. "But what if he _did_? I bet Tready'd have some explaining to do if Mister Honor-and-Nobility there went storming off to the High Council!"

"But the High Council already knows," she protested in a cautious whisper. "They authorized us to..."

"But they can't _admit_ they know!" he replied triumphantly. "Can you imagine the scandal? Every Maximal on Cybertron'd be outraged!" Syker's voice had grown louder with intensity, drawing curious glances from passers-by, and he quickly hushed himself before continuing. "And what would the _Preds_ think? It'd be enough to cause another war!"

Dawnlight shuddered at the thought. "Will you tell him, then?"

"Nah. Not yet, anyway." He paused, and grinned again. "But if old Tready _thinks_ I'm willing to report all this...well, he might think twice before he pulls any slag on me again." He grasped her by the upper arm, which fortunately wasn't badly damaged, and pulled her along beside him. "Come on. We've got work to do."

--

The visit to the medics hadn't been much help. They acknowledged having tended Dawnlight's injuries, and she'd given them the same "accident" story. Apparently they'd taken her word and hadn't pursued the matter any further. Her injuries weren't serious...of course, the medics had continued, if they actually had a fully functional CR chamber to work with, blah, blah, blah...

Depth Charge had excused himself from the familiar spiel as politely as possible. He strode down the halls with his typical determined gait, as though he would knock down a mountain with his forehead if it happened to be in his way. The smaller Maximals he encountered hastily moved out of the way at his approach. Finally he reached the seemingly-deserted area where he'd had yesterday's encounter. The crack in the floor was still there, but this time he glanced up and down the hall to make sure he was alone before he spoke.

"Hey!" he demanded, feeling rather foolish as he leaned down to speak into the gap. "You still in there?"

"How could I be elsewhere?" came the snapped reply. But then, with a sound of someone resettling himself, X spoke again in a more polite tone. "I apologize, my friend. It's good to hear from you again."

"Whatever." Depth Charge narrowed his optics and insisted, "Who _are _you, really? I want the truth."

A low chuckle preceded the other's response. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" The Maximal security officer was not the most patient of robots, and was fed up with the entire situation. "I want to know who you are, and what you're doing in there, and what the Pit's going on in this whole slagging place!!"

"Hahaha!" The so-called Protoform X seemed to find this amusing. "Very well." There were clanking sounds, like the rattling of chains. "I am a prisoner."

_Prisoner?_ Depth Charge wondered, surprised. _Nobody told me they had holding cells down here._ Suspicious, he demanded, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" the other replied, sounding hurt.

"Yeah, right. You're just locked up for no reason."

"Precisely. I've been here since the moment I came on-line."

"I don't believe you," Depth Charge replied bluntly.

"Believe what you like," the voice sighed, "Still, I don't see why I should be treated this way." The tone turned almost innocent, pleading, "If you see General Treadway, could you ask that the pain experiments stop, for at least a little while...?"

"Shut up!" Depth Charge finally lost his temper. "That can't be true! This base is _my _responsibility! No one's performing any 'pain experiments', or keeping anyone locked up against their will...!"

The other's response was the barest of whispers. "Are you sure, my friend?" The pair of optics narrowed slightly. "And how is the lady Dawnlight, by the way?"

Depth Charge was stunned by this. "How do you know about...?"

"She was here when it happened. Well, not here in this cell, of course." Another chuckle. "In the main lab, where the experiments take place. She and her partner had an altercation with the good general. It was very..." He seemed to check himself, as though he'd been about to say something that he'd thought better of. "..._distressing_," he concluded finally, with exaggerated concern.

Both beings were silent for some time before Depth Charge spoke again. "How do I get into this 'lab'?"

"I don't know. There's a hallway from which they enter, but I believe there are security checkpoints beyond that. I've never been outside, so I'm not sure."

"Hmm." Depth Charge seemed to ponder this information before X suggested, "Of course, you could just break in here, set me free..."

He gave a short, barked laugh at that. "No way. Not till I get to the bottom of this."

There was a long, slow hiss from within, as if from frustration. However, the voice was polite and controlled when it spoke again. "Of course. I understand. Perhaps if you spoke to Dawnlight, or her partner Syker..."

"I don't need you to tell me my job," Depth Charge retorted, as he stood upright with an expression of grim determination. "But if I find out you're lying..."

"I assure you," he replied, "I'm not."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that." Without another word, he turned and strode back down the hall once more, leaving X alone with his thoughts.

Inside the cell, X slowly sat down, rearranging his chains to more comfortable positions, and allowed himself a quiet laugh. "What a fascinating creature." Then he thought silently, _I must be cautious. He appears to be a dreadfully honorable being...at least as I understand the concept of honor._ He ran a finger along the cell floor until he came across the decomposing remains of the rodent he'd flattened.

"Hmm," he observed. "But I think he'll do nicely." He raised his finger, with the organic remains still clinging to it...then placed it in his mouth, sealed his mouth around it, and slowly drew it out again, with a smacking noise of satisfaction. "Quite...nicely... indeed."

--

General Treadway sighed as he settled himself into his chair and leaned back, raising his face to the ceiling. His shoulder-mounted tank treads settled on either side of the chair's back, and he massaged his temples with his fingers, mentally grumping, _These late nights'll be the death of me yet..._

A loud crash interrupted his thoughts. With a speed forged in years of combat training, Treadway leaped to his feet and extended his wrist-mounted laser cannon towards the robot who'd just burst in. The newcomer stood glaring at him, immediately next to the fallen door, which had been forcibly removed from its housings and sloped at a forlorn angle on the floor.

Treadway kept his weapon aimed at the intruder as he sarcastically observed, "Come on in, why don't you, Depth Charge!"

The other Maximal unapologetically strode in and placed his hands on his side of the desk, leaning forward till his chest was inches from Treadway's gun. "You planning on shooting me?"

Depth Charge had the advantage in size, but Treadway was a large Maximal himself, and was able to meet the security officer optic-to-optic with a cold stare of his own. "If you give me a reason to."

The two warriors stared each other down for several seconds. Treadway was the first to blink. He backed away slightly; lowering, but not withdrawing, his weapon. "Fix that door, will you?" he snapped rather petulantly. "You know how slow the maintenance 'bots are around here."

Never taking his gaze completely from his adversary, Depth Charge grudgingly backed towards the entrance and picked up the door, turning away only to shove it back into place. The Maximal general continued, "So what's so important that you needed to redecorate my office first?"

Satisfied that the door was secure once more, Depth Charge turned and crossed his arms over his chest, spearing the other Maximal with a red glare. "The name 'X' mean anything to you?"

Treadway was surprised, but covered it quickly. "Should it?"

"Maybe." Depth Charge moved towards him, more slowly this time, but his calm restraint was somehow more threatening than his outright rage. "If what I hear is true, yeah, it should mean a lot."

The other managed a cold smile, brushing an imaginary piece of dust from his wrist cannon. "What, exactly?"

"Something to do with 'pain experiments', maybe?" Depth Charge's voice dripped sarcasm as he leaned forward once more. "Or 'major violation of Maximal law'? How about 'court-martial and dishonorable discharge'? Ring any bells yet?"

Treadway's expression twisted with contempt. "You're out of line, officer. If I knew what you were talking about...which I don't...I'd say you should keep your ugly face out of things that don't concern you."

"Really." They locked optics over the desk again. "I'm thinking the Maximal Elders would say different."

This provoked a short, clipped laugh from the general. "The High Council? Don't be naive." Treadway gave a confident sneer once more. "If the Protoform X project were real, what makes you think they wouldn't _already know about it_?"

Depth Charge seemed disturbed by this. "They wouldn't...they wouldn't approve something like that."

"Wouldn't they? And besides, you've got no evidence, do you? Only a bunch of wild, unfounded accusations."

Treadway seemed far more sure of himself now, and leaned even further forward. "Do yourself a favor, officer. Stay out of this. Unless you want to end your career doing sewer patrol back on Cybertron."

They stared each other down once more, and this time, Depth Charge was the one who unwillingly backed off. "This isn't over, Treadway," he warned. "I know you're dirty. You slip up once and I'll nail you to the wall."

"I'm sure." Treadway gave a mocking salute and gestured towards the door. "You know the way out, I think."

Depth Charge turned and moved towards the exit; then stopped and slowly looked back over his shoulder. "By the way," he pointed out, his tone deceptively polite, "Who said it was called _Protoform_ X?"

Treadway's realization of his own blunder slowly spread across his face. But by time his expression began to darken into rage once more, Depth Charge was already gone.

The general lowered his arm and retracted his weapon, settling back into his chair as he pondered this development. Finally, he raised his communicator, set it to his personal frequency, and called one of his aides. "Send Syker and Dawnlight to my office. Immediately."

"They're already on their way, sir," the somewhat flustered voice responded. "Said it was urgent. I was about to call you..."

"Yes, yes, thank you," Treadway snapped. Glancing towards the entrance, he added, "and put in a work order for a new door, would you?"

"Sir?"

The general didn't bother to explain as he cut off the conversation and sat at his desk, fuming in silence.

--

Depth Charge stormed back to his own office, and entered with only slightly less force than he'd used to get into Treadway's. He pounded his fists against his own desk with a guttural snarl of fury; then, as his boiling rage gradually subsided, told himself, _That was stupid. Now I need a new desk, too._ Then he gave a quiet, bitter laugh at his own expense. _But I bet sewer patrol 'bots don't get desks anyway._

He sighed, then turned and leaned wearily back against the now severely dented furniture, not bothering to turn on the lights. For the first time since he'd become a security officer, he was utterly unsure of what to do next.

Of course, the simplest solution was to free "Protoform X" through the damaged panel that had facilitated their fateful encounter. However, he dismissed that thought out of hand. Even though X had never been anything but cordial, Depth Charge's instincts warned him not to trust the mysterious being. His optics shut partway as he lowered his head, examining the floor as though it would provide him with answers.

If he couldn't bring X before the High Council to tell his tale, the next best thing would be to get hold of someone involved with the project. Treadway obviously wouldn't talk. It would cost him his career--or worse--if his actions were made public. Depth Charge still refused to believe the general's assertion that the project was known to...or even condoned by...the Elders. _This is just some pet project of his. It has to be._

What about the scientists, then? If he could get them to come forward, maybe promise them immunity in exchange for their testimony..._it depends. Are they in this willingly or not?_ Dawnlight had definitely seemed ashamed of herself when he'd noticed her injuries. Or perhaps they could simply provide him with proof, and he could leave their names out of it when he brought the matter before the Council. He didn't like that, but uncovering the truth was the important thing.

That left his third option...break into the lab himself and find what he needed. Even with so much at stake, Depth Charge balked at the notion. Besides, it would mean an end to his days as head of security if he were caught, and that would allow Treadway and his aides to bury all evidence of their work. _Or, _he thought grimly, _to "bury" X himself. Dispose of the test subject, start fresh somewhere else..._ He didn't like X much, but couldn't allow that to happen to another living being.

A faint knock at the door startled him out of his reverie. Cautiously, he moved behind the desk to check the external security holocams. A slender female stood shifting from one foot to the other, darting her gaze up and down the hall as though expecting to be dragged away by armed guards at any moment. It was Dawnlight.

"Well, now," he observed quietly. He crossed over to the door and manipulated the internal controls to open it. Dawnlight started as the door opened, and looked up at him nervously.

He tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. "Yes?"

"I..." she began, then hesitated, looked around once more, and continued, "I wish to speak with you."

"Sure," he offered, stepping back to allow her into the office. "Come inside and..."

"No! Not here!" She stepped back, then forward again, wringing her bandaged hands as though in a great agony of indecision. "Not here," she repeated more softly. "Come to my lab later. At...2300 hours tonight. I...I can provide you with certain information that may facilitate your endeavors."

Depth Charge thought wryly, _Even in this emotional state she uses humongous words._ He said aloud, "Can't you give me this 'information' now?"

This seemed to confuse her. "No, it...wouldn't be possible. You...need to see it for yourself."

"All right then. 2300 hours. I'll be there."

"You will?" Dawnlight flickered her optics as if surprised, then offered, "V-very well then." Without any kind of farewell, she turned on her heels and practically sprinted away, around the corner and out of sight.

Depth Charge watched her retreat with a skeptical look. _Not like this is a bit TOO convenient._ Was the scientist genuinely suffering an attack of conscience, or had Treadway gotten to her first? He was betting on the latter; but this was still an offer he couldn't refuse.

Stepping back into his office and allowing the door to swish shut, he briefly considered bringing his deputies into this, but immediately decided against it. Better for them to know nothing if the encounter went badly. Punching in the key code to open a storage locker on the wall, he thought, _I'll handle this myself._ He withdrew a formidable-looking laser cannon, and cocked it once, sharply, his optics glowing a fierce red in the darkness.

--

Deep within the hidden lab, Treadway and Syker watched the holographic image that floated above the center of the circular console before them. The former observed the proceedings with his typical arrogant smirk, the latter with a sulky frown. They'd seen the footage of the hall security cam outside Depth Charge's office as it recorded his conversation with Dawnlight. Now the view switched from camera to camera as she made her way by a long, circuitous route back to the lab.

"Enough of this," Treadway ordered. "You said you could get me access to the holocam in his office. Can you?"

"Yes," the other muttered. The defiance he'd displayed earlier seemed to have vanished in his commander's actual presence. Syker bent over the console and manipulated the controls for several seconds as the floating image flickered and changed. It now showed Depth Charge inside his office, checking the weapon he'd pulled from the locker.

Treadway gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Not taking any chances, are you?" he mocked.

Syker said nothing, but looked up as the inner door ground open and Dawnlight entered the inner sanctum, looking drawn and haunted. He rose to meet his partner as the general snapped, without looking up, "You weren't hoping to become an actress someday, I hope." As Syker took her trembling hands and glared back at Treadway, the other sarcastically went on, "I'm sure he'll _never_ suspect you're leading him into a trap!"

"Leave her alone!" the male technician spat. "We've done what you wanted...!"

"Not all of it, you haven't! Now pipe down!" As they watched, Depth Charge checked the wall-mounted chronometer and left the office. "Follow him!" Treadway ordered, jerking his head toward the floating hologram.

Grudgingly, Syker moved back to his post and worked at it once again. The camera views shifted several times as Depth Charge left the complex and emerged into the open air, apparently heading for the boundaries of the colony.

"Slag," Treadway observed. "Where's he going? If he gets much farther he'll be out of holocam range." He glared at the other Maximals again. "Do we have any drones in the area?"

Dawnlight moved slowly towards another console and checked the readings. "Yes," she replied, her voice emotionless. "One."

"Then get it on him!" Treadway demanded. "I don't want him out of my sight for a nanoclick. Understood?"

The female nodded wearily and sent a message to one of the nondescript drone-bots that frequented the colony. The main holographic image sputtered and fuzzed, then showed a slightly unsteady image as the drone wobbled into place. The subject of their observations was leaning against a railing, gazing out at the sky.

"What's he doing?" Treadway asked no one in particular, a puzzled frown crossing his face.

Dawnlight answered, but her voice was too soft for anyone to hear. "Maybe he's wondering when, exactly, everything went so utterly wrong."

--

Colony Omicron had been established on a flat, rocky plain bordering a shallow sea. The outer fringes of the colony ran to the edge of the ocean, and Depth Charge stood looking out upon the brooding waters as night fell. He leaned against the railing, looking down the long wall of smooth metal that sloped down to meet the waves. If he'd had a stone to throw, he might have sent it sailing out into the sea, but none seemed available. All he could do was wait as the sky darkened and the stars began to emerge.

A lowly maintenance droid creaked its ovoid body along the walkway behind him. It kept itself close to the wall that separated the rest of the colony from the observation pathway where Depth Charge now stood. The Maximal gave no sign of noticing its approach. However, he did glance at a small blue aircraft that soared in from the distance. It transformed into the figure of a female who gracefully settled to earth not far from him.

His second-in-command blinked her yellow optics once and walked towards him. "Evening, chief," she offered.

Depth Charge didn't meet her gaze. "Something you wanted, Cobalt?"

Taken aback by his cold response, she continued, "Well, you remember a bunch of us were heading out to Starbase Rugby for a little R&R, and we were wondering if..."

"I have no time for that now!" Depth Charge snapped. Cobalt was startled into silence by his response. Behind them both, the erratic-seeming drone bonked into the wall before resuming its course. Finally, Depth Charge spoke again. "Look, I'm sorry," he said. "You go ahead. I'll come some other time."

"You sure?" She looked at him askance. "It's just you seemed kind of stressed lately, and we thought..."

"I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind." He apparently didn't sound very convincing even to himself, as he continued, "Go on, take a couple days leave. I'll see you when you get back."

"Well, O.K.," Cobalt replied, disappointed. She backed away as if to leave, then mock-scolded, "Don't get in _too_ much trouble while we're gone, you hear?"

"Trouble?" He gave her a dubious look. "This from the 'bot who got thrown out of the worst energon bar in the Newsted district?"

"That was a simple misunderstanding," she insisted, but gave a wicked smile before she transformed again. Depth Charge watched as she rose into the air and continued, "I'll give your regards to the rest of the gang. See you when we get back."

"Yeah." He watched the small aircraft speed off into the distance, then turned his face to the ocean once more.

--

"That was one of his stooges," Treadway explained unnecessarily, his voice laced with contempt. "So, the officers are going to Starbase Rugby. How sad that their 'chief' will meet such a dreadful fate while they're gone. I imagine they'll regret this trip for the rest of their lives."

Neither Syker nor Dawnlight spoke as the figure in the hologram checked his chrono. "Yes, that's right," Treadway continued his unsolicited narration, "keep an eye on the time. Wouldn't want to be late for your own termination, would you?"

The image flickered as the unreliable drone ran itself into the wall again. Depth Charge appeared to pay it no mind as he stepped away from the railing and walked past, out of the drone's sight. "Turn this thing around!" the general began to order.

Suddenly the image went staticky as the view spun at a crazy angle and rose off up the ground. Then Depth Charge's face appeared in extreme close-up. His angular optics narrowed to slits as he said, "Nice try." Then his fist sailed towards the camera, and the three observers flinched back. With a shattering sound, the image went dead.

There was stunned silence for some time before Treadway growled, "Wise-ass." He shoved himself away from the circular console and headed towards the back wall, stopping as he reached the enormous figure that awaited him there. If this mechanoid had been watching the hologram with as much interest as his creators, he gave no sign of it now. His head swayed to and fro as he muttered incoherently and flickered his unsteady gaze across the floor.

"Depth Charge is a _total_ slaghead, isn't he, 'X'?" the general asked in an exaggerated condescending tone, as if he were speaking to an imbecile or a not-highly-regarded pet. "Yes, he _is_! But we won't have to worry about that any more, _will_ we? No, we _won't_!"

"RRRAARRGGHHH!!" Protoform X gave an inarticulate roar and lunged for the general. His chains snapped taut as he struggled and strained to reach his tormentor, drops of mech-fluid spattering from his mouth. Treadway jumped back to just beyond the chains' reach and wiped the other's spittle from his face.

"Whoa ho ho, big fella!" he laughed. "Save it for later!" As the worried scientists exchanged glances, Treadway stared the raging monstrosity in the face and lowered his voice in satisfaction. "I just _know_ you'll make your daddy proud...!"

--

Twenty-three-hundred hours.

The entrance to Dawnlight's lab--her _official_ lab, at any rate--glided open with barely a hint of noise. The scientist stood framed by the doorway, gazing up at her visitor without a word. The metal-mesh bandages on her arms were beginning to look neglected and disheveled, lending her a cadaverous appearance that accentuated the hollow, haunted look on her face.

Depth Charge looked down at her, and said nothing.

Her optics fixed on the laser cannon he carried. "Oh," she observed softly.

"Don't be afraid." His voice was calm, and he regarded her with something like pity. "Let's get this over with."

She stepped back to let him in, and the door lowered as quietly as it had raised. The interior of the lab was dark, lit only by a few colored lights that blinked on and off on the unattended consoles. "This way," she whispered.

Dawnlight led him through several small rooms to a smooth, featureless wall. She placed the palm of her hand against a spot that seemed no different from any other and intoned, "Access code Dawnlight seven, one, one, nine. Scan now."

A narrow beam of red light emanated from the wall directly beneath her hand, and moved up and down beneath her palm. A computerized voice observed, "Scan complete. Level-one authorization granted." With a low hiss, a section of the wall before them slid upwards, revealing a circular passageway beyond. This was even darker than the lab, lit only by a strip of tiny red lights on the floor and ceiling. Dawnlight stepped inside, and Depth Charge ducked in behind her. The moment they were inside, the door instantly lowered and shut, leaving barely a seam to betray its presence.

"Clever," Depth Charge observed, his voice louder than he'd intended in the silent corridor. Without replying, the female continued onward, and he fell into step behind her, slowing his pace to match hers.

They went on to three more checkpoints, each one increasing in levels of security clearance as the pathway descended. "You 'bots don't take chances, do you," Depth Charge dryly noted, but his guide made no reply.

Finally they stood before an enormous octagonal door. The hallway had widened gradually at each checkpoint, and now the ceiling was far enough away that even Depth Charge couldn't reach it. The door was crisscrossed with massive strips of metal, and the armor-piercing cannons mounted at each corner left no doubt as to the seriousness of the situation.

Once again, Dawnlight moved forward, and placed her hand against the dead center of the door. Her voice was nearly inaudible as she spoke one last time, "Access code Dawnlight, Project X, omega, zero, one, one, zero."

There was a loud, echoing clang, then the massive door split into four equal segments that withdrew, with a heavy, grinding sound, into the corners of the wall. The cannons whirred slightly as they turned away from the waiting Maximals. His expression grim, Depth Charge held his gun at the ready and stepped inside. Dawnlight didn't follow.

There was no more light here than there had been in the hallway. The Maximal officer moved cautiously, peering to the left and right as he moved through the lab. His gaze took in the masses of complex equipment, consoles, and monitors, while some part of his mind noted that this lab, unlike most places in the colony, was _more_ than large enough for someone his height...

A second metallic clang came from the entranceway. Depth Charge whirled around and trained his weapon in that direction in time to see the four sections of the door beginning to close once more. Never having moved from her position, Dawnlight fixed him with a gaze as empty as that of any corpse; then, with a noise of ominous finality, the door sealed itself shut.

Depth Charge didn't bother to rush back and pound at the door in helpless futility, nor waste ammo by shooting at it. He only regarded it for a silent moment, then growled with impatience, "Get _on _with it, will you?"

With a deranged, horrific scream, something tackled him from behind. He went sprawling, but managed to twist as he fell and fire his gun back in his attacker's direction. The blast impacted the creature's massive shoulder, provoking a wail of mingled pain and rage. Depth Charge wasted no time, leaping to his feet and firing off two more shots in quick succession. But his attacker was surprisingly agile, and evaded the blasts as he lunged at Depth Charge once more.

The Maximal lost his weapon and slammed against the wall with such force that he felt the back of his head dent. Dazed, he still managed to bring his knee up into his adversary's midsection. This made the other double over with an outraged "hooof!", but he recovered too quickly for Depth Charge to take advantage. His movements preternaturally fast, the creature drove his elbow into the side of Depth Charge's head, then followed up with a direct punch to the throat. Gagging, the Maximal sank to the floor, grasping his throat as his attacker stepped back and stood over him, panting with exertion.

"Not good...old friend," The voice mingled humor and ferocity, anger and sorrow. "You'll have to do...better than that."

"Agkhk..." Depth Charge choked as he tried to get his vocal net back on-line. "X...is that you?"

Now there was a familiar chuckle as the green optics, luminous in the dark, narrowed into slits. "Yes." X shook his head and rubbed his damaged shoulder, which appeared to be healing itself at an unnatural rate. "Not the meeting one would wish, is it?"

"Why..." Depth Charge tried to rise. "Why are you...?"

Another laugh, but not from X. "Why do you think, slaghead?" A figure emerged from deep shadow into what weak light illuminated the center of the lab. "Shame you didn't go to Starbase Rugby after all."

The fallen Maximal finally managed to stagger to his feet. X only watched passively, making no further move to hinder him. "Treadway," Depth Charge hissed. "Wish I...could say...I'm surprised."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure you figured it out by now. You're such a clever 'bot," the general sneered. "Syker!" he barked over his shoulder. "Get in here." Hesitantly, the technician emerged from an alcove, and darted his nervous gaze back and forth. X gave a low "Hmmm..." as if something in the other's terror gave him satisfaction, but no one else took notice.

"We can leave now, right?" Syker demanded with no great force, his voice shaking. His optics had locked with those of X, and he seemed somehow paralyzed by the sight. "Dawnlight and I can...?"

"Can what? Run to the Council with everything 'old Tready's' been up to?" Syker finally turned his gaze to the general, his blue optics growing wide as he realized the implications of the other's words. Treadway continued, "Think I haven't been keeping you under surveillance? You expect to save yourselves and leave me to rust? I don't think so," he finished nonchalantly, and fired off several shots from his wrist cannon that punctured the scientist's weak plating.

With a grunt, Syker staggered back against the wall and slid gradually to the floor, the light in his optics dimming as Depth Charge protested, "No...!"

X sighed deeply and shook his head. "Too quick," he murmured, but no one heard as Depth Charge stepped towards the general, his hands raised into threatening fists. "You piece of...!"

"Ah-ah-ah," the general warned, shaking his head as he immediately pointed his weapon at Depth Charge. "No more heroics from you, officer. X!" he snapped, jerking his head towards his intended target. "Finish him."

For a moment, X was silent. Then he calmly replied, "No."

The general's optics flickered once, then twice, as he processed this statement. "What...do...you...mean, NO??" he demanded, enunciating each word very carefully.

The other explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "He isn't ready."

Treadway could only sputter with rage. "He isn't _ready_? He isn't motherslagging _READY?!_" He trained his weapon on X and shouted, "Kill him _now_ or I'll blow you to the Pit, you misbegotten freak!"

As the horrified Depth Charge watched, X whipped around with a movement almost too fast to follow, and ripped the general's arm from its socket.

Treadway could only gape at the sight. His mouth moved as if he were trying to scream, but no sound emerged. Protoform X studied the arm in his hand as if it were some fascinating art object, then replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "I think I'd prefer to kill _you_."

"Freeze!" Depth Charge snapped the order as he leveled his gun at X's head, having taken advantage of the distraction to recover his own weapon. "Don't move."

X slowly turned and faced him with a vaguely puzzled expression. "Why not?"

The other blinked, then continued firmly, "Look, I'm sure you've got reason enough to hate him." X's expression tightened briefly at that, but he made no reply. Depth Charge continued, "But let me take him to the authorities. I promise you, they'll lock him up for the rest of his life. Killing him won't solve anything."

X sighed, dropped the arm, and backed away from the general, who fell to his knees, appearing to be in shock. The enormous mechanoid continued backing up until he rested against a console on the far side of the lab. "That's better," Depth Charge approved, stepping back until he stood in the room's center, directly in front of the massive entrance door. "Now, I'm going to call for backup and..."

His voice trailed off at the now-familiar sound of the opening door. He whipped around to stare into the darkness beyond. There was no sign of Dawnlight...only the autoguns, which lowered themselves into view, swung around to face him, and began to fire.

Depth Charge cried out in agony as the armor-piercing shells tore through him, riddling his body as he fell to his knees. Finally, unable to support himself any longer, he collapsed face down to the floor. Lying in a slowly growing puddle of his own fuel, he struggled valiantly to rise as X chuckled and casually approached him.

"I was right," X observed. "Those _were_ the main autogun controls." He knelt down and seized the top of Depth Charge's head in one hand and yanked it up so the other's face was clear of the floor. "It seems your courage is going to cause me no end of difficulty." He sighed, and let the other's head drop so his face smacked into the floor. "Still, we can work on chipping away at that honor and nobility, can't we?"

X rose and walked in a circle around the gasping Depth Charge. "And things like trust, and friendship, and faith in the things that have always sustained you...we can certainly get rid of those. But first..."

As he spoke, he crossed over to the prone figure of Treadway, who'd been trying to wriggle his way towards his weapon, still attached to his own severed limb. Suddenly, his remaining arm was crushed beneath an enormous foot. Treadway looked up at the creature looming over him, who shook his finger in a scolding fashion and chided, "Ah-ah-ah."

As Depth Charge struggled, his hands slipped on the fuel-slick floor, and he collapsed with a grunt that mingled frustration with intense pain. He could hear noise from behind him...Treadway's screams, mingled with snapping and crunching sounds that he didn't want to think about. Then he became aware of a slight figure darting towards him; it was Dawnlight. She looked over his back at what was going on against the far wall, then quickly looked down again.

"Get up!" she whispered urgently, making a futile attempt to lift him. "You must get up!"

"No...kidding..." he snarled. Using her as a support, he managed to stagger to his feet as his weight nearly brought them both down. "Hurry!" she urged, "while he's distracted!"

Together they stumbled through the entranceway as a particularly wet sound from behind made them both cringe. Depth Charge cast a worried look at the autoguns, but Dawnlight whispered, "Don't worry. I disabled them."

"Great," he snarled in reply, clutching his side with his free hand. "You couldn't have...done that..._before!?_"

The massive octagonal door closed as they headed for the next checkpoint, and the next. "I called the medics. They're standing by."

"Call security...too..." he gasped. Remembering that his best officers were off-world, he added, "Tell 'em...send everything they've got...and be careful..."

"I will," she assured, as they finally emerged from the final door into her main lab. The medics were indeed there, and wasted no time with questions as she handed him off to them. He gratefully lay down on the proffered stretcher; it took four Maximals to lift him. They carted him out through the exit as a team of Treadway's soldiers came pouring in, weapons at the ready. Apparently the activation of the automatic defenses had sent some kind of signal...Dawnlight stood out of their way as she contacted his own officers.

_Tell them...be careful,_ he thought desperately, still trying to speak as his consciousness swam away, _Please...be careful...!_

--

When Depth Charge woke, he was lying on a repair table in the main medical facility. The worst of his wounds were patched up, and a device extending from the table's side slowly ran a horizontal line of green light up and down his body at regular intervals. He tried to get up, but found himself unable to do so. "Hey...!" he protested, darting his head from side to side. "What's...?"

He noticed one of his minor officers off to his right. Upon seeing DepthCharge awake, the other Maximal moved away from Dawnlight, who sat slumped in a chair against the wall. "Glad you're awake, chief," the officer noted. "Sorry about the partial stasis-lock. The meds insisted...said they didn't want you re-opening the wounds."

Depth Charge acted as if he'd like to ask more, but the other cut him off. "Look, get some rest. We'll fill you in later. Yell if you need anything." With that, he gave a sharp glance back towards the female, who looked away. Then he left the repair bay without another word.

_Yell if you need anything!_ Depth Charge fumed silently. _When this is over, remind me to demote you! Or have you recycled!_ Since there wasn't much else he could do, he turned his attention towards Dawnlight. "Hey," he called. "Could you tell me what happened? I'll go nuts if I just lie here."

Dawnlight rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. "Syker's dead," she mumbled.

He didn't know what to say. The repair beam continued to emit an annoying thrum as it moved up and down with tedious regularity. "I'm sorry," he offered finally. "I know you two were...close."

She bit out a laugh. "Not as close as he wanted." Then she sighed and sat back in the chair. "I suppose I owe you an explanation."

"Where's X now?" Depth Charge interrupted as his memories of recent events came rushing back. "Is he in custody? Was anyone else hurt...?"

Dawnlight's giggle was not a healthy one. "They can't find him."

"What?? Slag," he swore, "the 'bot's bigger than me. How can they not find...?"

"He killed Treadway's soldiers," she cut him off. "Fought his way past the others, then...disappeared."

Depth Charge hissed in frustration, then let his head drop backwards till he was staring at the featureless ceiling. "I've gotta help them."

"They told me you'd say that." Her smile was still somewhat distracted. "We did have a scanning device in the lab attuned to X's indestructible spark. I told them about it; they're working on getting it on-line right now..."

Depth Charge's mind finally caught up with what she'd just said. "What do you mean, 'indestructible'?"

The scientist rose from the chair and trudged wearily to his side, then turned and leaned against the table so her back was to him. "We had such hopes, Syker and I," she began. "When Treadway came to us with the project, we knew we'd go down in history if it succeeded."

She laughed weakly. "Oh, we didn't agree with the motivation behind it, but Syker convinced me to overlook that." Her voice turned bitter. "Primus forbid we should let a little moral aversion interfere with the pursuit of science."

Depth Charge asked carefully, "What was Treadway's motive?"

"That of a warrior without a war to fight." She shook her head. "Beings of his nature have no tolerance for peace. He was convinced that the Predacons were growing strong again, and that if they moved against the Maximals, we would be overwhelmed. Perhaps the Predacon threat was genuine...I don't know." She turned sideways, so he could see her face, but she still wouldn't look directly at him.

"At any rate," she continued, "The notion was to create a...'super-soldier', I believe the term was." Dawnlight spoke as if giving a lecture to a student. "A Maximal with superior strength, intelligence, reflexes...and a spark that could not be destroyed by conventional means. We knew there was historical precedent for a spark that could survive the destruction of the body..."

"Starscream," Depth Charge noted grimly.

She gave a sharp nod. "Correct. But having no access to the Decepticon warrior, we were force to pursue...other avenues." There was silence for a long time, broken only by the repetitive thrum of the diagnostic beam. Depth Charge briefly reflected on the number of ways he'd like to demolish the irritating device, then urged, "So how'd you make an indestructible spark?"

"We...it..." She was having visible trouble continuing. "It gains its power...from the pain of others."

"What?" Depth Charge gasped, his voice harsh.

She raised her hands to her head and arched her back till she was looking at the ceiling above her head. "Treadway had the notion," she offered, her voice deceptively light, "to create an empathic soldier...one who would actually be _strengthened_ by the agony and trauma of war. As his enemies knew pain and fear, the spark of the new breed would grow stronger, more confident, more eager for the kill..."

Dawnlight finally looked down at Depth Charge, and he flinched at what he saw in her eyes. "X feeds off his victims...quite literally," she laughed. "It...he..._craves_ the darker emotions. Like an addictive drug. It creates a sort of feedback loop..."

She tossed her head violently, for no apparent reason. "As the victim's pain and terror grow, so does X's strength, until the moment of..._consummation._" Another weak laugh, then, "Meaning, of course, the victim's destruction. Then another, and another, and..."

Depth Charge interrupted before she flew completely off the handle. "And nobody reported this? The High Council didn't suspect _anything_?"

Her face suddenly calm, Dawnlight looked directly at him, and he knew.

He _knew_.

Depth Charge squeezed his optics shut, and let his head fall back against the table. "Well," he observed rather lamely, then was silent. Then he jerked his head up again as a sudden commotion sounded in the hall outside.

"Well," Dawnlight repeated quietly. She stood up, steadied herself, and commented, "It's the only logical course of action, after all."

Walking around the front of the table and ignoring Depth Charge's protests of "Hey...wait!", she opened the door of the repair bay and left without another word.

The door shut.

There were no screams.

When the door opened once again, it was filled with the massive figure of X.

Straining from his helpless position on the table, Depth Charge could see that the other sported several leaking, sparking wounds that were healing themselves even as he watched. Copious amounts of fuel streaked the monster's chest and face. It was almost certain that most of it was not his own.

"Knock, knock," he chortled. "May I come in?"

--

Even though his fuel pumps were hammering inside his chest, Depth Charge refused to allow himself to make a sound. He only watched through slitted optics as X stalked around the table till he stood directly by his side.

"Oh, this is no fun," X observed, his voice oddly cheerful, as though he were over-energized on some stimulant. "Helpless as a fish out of water! How tedious!" He guffawed with laughter at that, a thick, damp sound that seemed to emanate from deep within his throat.

Depth Charge snapped with a bravado he didn't quite feel, "If you're gonna kill me, creep, get it over with. Don't talk me to death."

The other only looked at him askance. "Well, let's see. Are you ready yet?" Protoform X leaned the side of his head close to the flat blue panel of Depth Charge's chest, like a medic listening for the sound of fuel pumps beating.

"You're afraid," he murmured. "Fighting it like a good warrior, but still afraid." He moved slowly up Depth Charge's body, stopping when their heads were close together. A streamer of fuel dripped from X's mouth and ran down the other's revolted face.

"In pain, but not agony," X mused. "Angered, but not mad with fury. And..." he cut himself off. "What...is... _this_...?" his voice began to tighten dangerously, and he abruptly stood up and moved several paces back from the table. Depth Charge refused to watch, forcing himself to stare straight up at the ceiling.

Finally X demanded, "You know about me, don't you? _She_ told you, didn't she? Rraarrrr..." he growled incoherently, raising his fists before his face, "I _knew_ I killed her too quickly."

The paralyzed Maximal continued to hold his fixed gaze. "Dawnlight told me some things, yeah," he commented, thinking, _If I just keep him talking, maybe some help'll get here. What's keeping them, anyway?_ "I know you were created in that lab, intended to be a super-soldier. I guess they put you through a lot and..."

Protoform X gave an earsplitting shriek and lunged for him. He ripped Depth Charge free of the diagnostics table, lifted him as though he weighed nothing, and flung him against the far wall with all his strength.

The Maximal hit hard and slammed to the floor, head ringing from the double impact as he feebly attempted to move again. His attacker vaulted over the table and hit the floor with a crash, his feet inches from the struggling security officer. Then he seized Depth Charge by the neck and hauled him up, screaming in his face.

"No, no, not that!! Never that!! Do you understand?!" He shook Depth Charge so violently he almost passed out. "I want your hatred! I want your terror! I want your despair! But I never...want...your..._PITY!!"_

With a final roar, X let the other drop to the ground once more, and stood back from him, breathing hard.

His mind reeling, Depth Charge was in no position to say anything as X continued in a near-incredulous tone. "After all I've done...after all I've put you through...there's still some part of you that doesn't hate me!" The monstrous being seemed almost on the verge of weeping. "Of course, you hate what I've _done_...but some small, disgustingly noble part of your spark doesn't _blame _me! You fault my creators for what I became!"

Finally Depth Charge managed to look up at his tormentor and gasp out a response. "I...blame you..._plenty._"

The other gave a sad chuckle, shaking his head. "Of course you do. With your _conscious_ mind. But it hasn't suffused your being yet. Something deep inside remains untouched. You aren't _ready._"

This was finally too much. Depth Charge managed to get to all fours as he raged, "Why...the Pit...do you keep SAYING that?!" He fixed the other with a blazing red glare. "Ready...for WHAT?!"

"You'll understand," X assured, "some day. Now I know what to do." He spoke with utter confidence. "Even with all the deaths I've caused, you still believe that I'm merely a tormented creature on a rampage." He paused. "It isn't _personal._"

As Depth Charge finally got to his feet, shaking with fatigue and pain, X crossed over to a shelf containing medical equipment, and concluded, "I will _make_ it personal."

He grabbed a hypo filled with clear liquid and hurled it with uncanny accuracy. It imbedded itself in Depth Charge's arm, right at the seam where it joined his shoulder. He grunted more from surprise than pain, then his vision wavered and he crashed back to the floor again. He twitched once as the fast-acting neurocircuit dampener took effect; then lay still. X chuckled, then crossed the room and picked up his fallen enemy, nonchalantly observing, "Let's _really _get this party going, shall we?"

--

The first thought to re-emerge in Depth Charge's heavily-sedated mind was, _I'm still alive?_

The rapid onset of an excruciating headache provided the answer. _Guess so._ He experimentally flexed his hands. _At least I can move again. _However, as he tried to raise his arms, he was unable to do so. _That's not the drug,_ he realized, _something's holding me down._

He shook his head, and his vision slowly began to clear from featureless black to featureless gray. _Not much of an improvement, _he thought blearily. He groaned, and reflected on the beings he'd arrested for being in just such a state. _Why anybody'd WANT this experience is beyond me..._

Shapes began to form in his sight now, but everything remained blurry around the edges. He tugged at whatever was holding his arms, harder this time, but made no progress. A similar problem seemed to exist with his legs. _Something's not right here... Idiot_, he scoffed as his true personality began to reassert itself._ Something BESIDES being drugged out of your mind and trussed up like a hunting trophy?_

Blinking his optics, he tried to force the universe into a coherent pattern. Now he could see piles of metal wreckage on what appeared to be the ceiling, and a smoky expanse of darkness beneath him. _What the...?_ Disoriented, he looked down his body, and realized he was looking at the night sky. He'd been bound upside down to a collection of enormous beams. His head hung just above the ground, his waist was bound to the center where the beams crossed, and his arms and legs went in separate directions, strapped to each beam with lengths of cables and twisted pipes.

_X..._he remembered, and the rage and panic of that memory galvanized him into action. With a guttural snarl, Depth Charge wrenched his limbs violently against their restraints, flailing back and forth until he worked himself free. He then landed on his head as the rest of his body came crashing down. Picking himself up unsteadily, he shook himself and surveyed his surroundings. _Where the Pit am I?_

The scene that surrounded him was one of absolute ruin and devastation. Twisted wreckage surrounded him as far as he could see, and rampant wildfires belched their greasy smoke into the night, staining the black sky with a layer of dirty soot. As the bewildered Maximal checked his internal chronometers, he realized with shock that he'd been out for the better part of a day. His mind tried to justify what he saw around him..._X must have gotten hold of a ship, dumped me off somewhere..._

Something deep within him knew the truth, but couldn't bear to accept it. He staggered forward through the wreckage, his sensors detecting no sign of life. Nothing looked familiar, but a sickening realization began to steal over him. _It can't be...it can't..._

Depth Charge froze as he came across a familiar-looking arm that emerged from beneath a pile of twisted scrap. He recoiled with a noise of disgust, and darted his head around frantically. There were more bodies here. Many of them were still sparking and leaking rivers of fuel, but all of them had been demolished beyond hope of repair, even for the most advanced CR chamber. Several appeared to have been partially consumed.

The sole surviving Maximal fell to his knees, mind reeling. Some part of him knew that if he tried to fully grasp the scope of the disaster, he would go irrevocably mad. He fought to keep hold of his sanity as the universe seemed to spin around him...

A small, detached part of his consciousness noticed a faint beeping.

He locked on to this noise, used it to anchor himself to reality. _That sound,_ he ordered himself, _identify it. Find out where it's coming from. Do it!_ he snapped at himself in the same tone he'd have used to reprimand a fearful subordinate.

He unsteadily rose to his feet, his breath coming in tight gasps as he stumbled onward. The carnage that surrounded him continued to assault his senses, but he forced himself to ignore it, narrowing his focus until nothing existed but the repetitive beeping. It grew louder as he approached the only building in the colony that had been left even partially standing: the starcraft hangar.

Leaning against whatever walls would support him, swaying more from deep shock than physical pain, he approached the source of the noise. It was coming from an interior communications array mounted next to the enormous hangar bay doors, which were flung open to the sky. There were several Maximals strewn about the hangar, but he knew they were far beyond his help.

_Just like all the others...everyone in the colony is..._ Depth Charge shook his head violently and willed himself to approach the console. A single red light beneath the monitor screen blinked on and off in time with the insistent beeping. Someone had left a message behind.

Depth Charge paused only an instant before hitting the playback button. He wasn't surprised by the face that appeared on the screen.

"Hello there!" X chuckled with what appeared to be sincere delight. "The party was marvelous. Too bad you had to miss it. Oh, and sorry about the mess."

Depth Charge clenched his fists against the edge of the console with such force that they dug into the metal, crumpling it. He let his head hang down, body quivering in fury as X continued. "I hope you're up for a new game. This one was such fun." The figure seemed amused. "It's really all your fault, you know."

The Maximal officer snapped his head back up at this as X explained: "Now don't misunderstand; I enjoyed hurting you _physically_, and I look forward to doing it again. But I've concluded that you can't be broken by mere torture. If you could, none if this would have been necessary."

He sighed as if disappointed. "So you see, it's because of _you_ that these Maximals had to die."

Enraged, Depth Charge drew back his fist as if to drive it through the screen. However, with a great mental effort, he checked himself as the hated voice droned on. "Now, this..." X gestured as if to take in the surrounding destruction, "would be enough for most beings, I imagine. But there's no point in taking foolish chances. So, I've decided that one more step is necessary. To truly close the deal, as it were."

He pointed, indicating something behind the viewer's right shoulder. "Please direct your attention to the vehicles behind you."

Unwillingly, Depth Charge complied. The first pair of the hangar's four Starhoppers had been demolished. Number four remained whole and untouched.

Number three was missing.

"Now," X continued nonchalantly, "inside the remaining craft you'll find a scanning device which is attuned to my, shall we say, _unique_ spark." He chortled briefly at this. "I assume you'll deduce how to make it work. It may seem like I'm giving you an advantage; but I don't want you giving up on me. And at any rate..."

He leaned forward, and his green optics narrowed as his voice turned deadly. "You already know where I'm going."

Depth Charge stumbled back from the console as X's words stabbed him to the core. "No...!" he protested, optics wide with horror, his voice a stricken whisper. "You wouldn't...!"

Protoform X went on, his tone nonchalant once more, "How convenient that each craft contains the coordinates of all local Cybertronian outposts, including one called, oh, what was it..." He pretended to hem and haw as if searching his memory. "...Starbase Rugby?"

Not waiting for the rest of the message, Depth Charge turned and sprinted for the final Starhopper. Behind him, X spoke once more, his manner now strangely quiet. "I hope you appreciate my efforts here. I wouldn't do this for just anyone, you know. After all..."

He broke off and looked down as the roar of engines filled the air. When he raised his head once more, his expression was one of weariness and unutterable sorrow.

"After all," he repeated, his voice a pained whisper, "you're the only friend I have."

X fell silent then, as the starcraft burst from the hangar and screamed off into the night. Without another word, he reached out to cut off the recording, and the screen went black.

--

"How long has he been like that?"

The dark gray med-bot shook his head in answer to the other's question. "Too long." He looked up and to his left at their unmoving patient, who sat silently on the edge of the bed at the far side of the room, staring out the viewport at the star-flecked sky.

The first Maximal spoke again, keeping his voice hushed. "What do you think we should do?"

"There's nothing we _can_ do. The CR chamber fixed everything that was physically wrong with him. Mentally, though..." he sighed heavily. "That's out of our hands."

"Poor 'bot," the smaller medic murmured in sympathy. "Finding his friends like that."

"What was left of them, at any rate," the other replied, his face grim. "Did they ever get an ID on the killer?"

"I don't know." Jerking his head to indicate the room's third occupant, he concluded, "Guess this guy's the only one who really knows what's going on. And he wouldn't talk to security."

The taller Maximal bit out a laugh. "Not surprising. Apparently he hasn't spoken in three days." The pair stood in silence once more before they each hazarded a glance at the subject of their conversation. He didn't seem aware of their presence. Finally the first speaker sighed, "Look, you go ahead and refuel. I'll try and talk to him."

"Be careful," the other warned, "he's pretty big. I wouldn't want to be at ground zero when he decides to snap."

"I'll be all right," he assured. The other looked dubious, but obligingly left the room as his partner approached their patient. The large Maximal took no notice, but continued to hold his fixed stare out the viewport. Shuddering slightly, the med-bot concluded, _I hope to Primus I never know what's in his head right now..._

Finally, the medical robot steeled himself, lifted the datapad he held in one hand, and began, "Well, then, how are..."

He broke off and took an involuntary step back as the other abruptly rose to his feet. Red optics narrowed into slits, the patient strode past him as though he didn't exist, heading for the door.

"W-wait!" the medic sputtered, trying to regain his composure. "You can't leave without permission...!"

Whatever else he'd planned to say died unspoken in his vocal net as the other halted and very slowly turned to face him. He spoke once, a harsh, dangerous rasp.

"Try and stop me."

The medic did not try and stop him. The former patient turned away, and stormed from the premises unhindered.

--

Some time later, Depth Charge stood in the hangar bay looking up at the Starhopper. The craft was primed and ready, as was the scanner inside. The starbase's mechanics had done a commendable job of bringing both up to optimal status. He wished he still had it in him to thank them. Not that he could have, actually; they'd all sprinted from the room the moment he entered.

Briefly, he paused and reflected. It wasn't too late to change his mind. He could still tell his story to the Maximal leaders here; he could ask for help, find others who'd be willing to hunt down the destroyer of Colony Omicron. After all, the inhabitants of Starbase Rugby had a score to settle, too. Apparently Protoform X had injured several individuals and caused extensive damage to the base as he sought out Depth Charge's friends.

_My friends..._

The brief flicker of memory was enough to set his decision once more. His last companions had been devoured alive by a maniacal killer. He could never allow another being that close to him again. It would only put them at risk of X's wrath, and he couldn't live with himself if one more life was lost because of him. _Better everyone hates me, than to side with me and wind up dead._ And he knew now that even the High Council couldn't be trusted.

His face revealed no emotion as he turned to stare out the forcefield into the trackless expanse of space._ I failed once, _he brooded._ I let him live when I had a chance to stop him._ He remembered standing in the hidden lab, holding his gun to X's head as the maimed Treadway looked on in horror. _Why didn't I just pull the trigger? Why, why, WHY didn't I do it?_

His face broke momentarily as guilt and self-loathing threatened to overwhelm him, but he pulled himself together with sheer force of will and stood glaring out at the stars.

_I will not break. I will not falter. Not now, not ever. Not till one or both of us lies dead._

As he stood in silence, it seemed as though a series of impenetrable doors slammed down within his mind, shutting off all feeling, all memory, every trace of his former life.

No mercy.

No compassion.

Never again.

Depth Charge turned and silently walked to his ship.

He was ready.


End file.
